Ships in the Night
by bookbookbook3224
Summary: MADDISON. At Seattle Grace High School, one thing is very apparent: Ms. Montgomery hates the new Vice Principal, McSteamy. This makes it even easier for everybody to believe the two would make a great couple. Told from various formats/perspectives. High school AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to Team Let's-start-something-new-before-finishing-what-already-exists. I've tried to plan most of this out in advance so that doesn't happen. And this totally isn't partially based on a true story... Anyway, as always, I'm British so there's are going to be inconsistencies with this story - most noticeably in the actual high school thing, some of which I am already aware of. Chapters are going to be fairly short, but I hope to post pretty often. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter One**

It's winter and Seattle has frozen, meaning everywhere is icy and everyone is slipping outside.

Zola Shepherd's godmother is wearing four inch heels which don't bode well for the current weather.

However, there are more important things for Aunt Addie to worry about. Except she isn't anxious; she's furious.

That's not how Aunt Addie starts off. In fact, Aunt Addie has been in a consistently pleasant mood. She let them all eat Froot Loops for breakfast, something both she and Zola's dad usually prohibit, and she chatted with Zola about school, which is generally a topic they avoid.

Aunt Addie is in a good mood right up until they arrive in the teachers' parking lot at Seattle Grace High to find somebody parking his Porsche in Aunt Addie's parking spot.

"What the hell?" Aunt Addie asks furiously, then beeps her horn loudly.

Zola thanks every deity anybody has ever believed in that it's too early for any other students to be at school.

The owner of the Porsche just beeps back just as loudly and finishes parking their car.

Aunt Addie beeps again. Zola winces in embarrassment and slides her phone out from her pocket to hide herself amidst the comfort of InstaPic while the embarrassing ordeal continues.

The Porsche owner doesn't beep back, and instead sets about leaving.

"Oh, that's _it_ ," Aunt Addie hisses, and then undoes her seatbelt angrily.

"Please don't," Zola murmurs, but Aunt Addie is already stepping out of the car.

She stomps over to the Porsche owner and the two begin having a heated discussion with lots of pointing and gesturing.

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

ZOLA

Help

ZOLA

Get me out of here

SAM

Why? What's happening?

ZOLA

Some doofus parked in Aunt Addie's spot.

SAM

Probably a supply

SAM

What's the problem?

ZOLA

Apparently she really doesn't like people parking in her spot? Idk. She's having a real go at him.

ZOLA _sent a picture_

SAM

Really? Miss Montgomery's wearing *that* coat? It's winter.

ZOLA

THAT'S what you're focusing on

ZOLA

I think she may actually punch him

ZOLA

My aunt is going to punch someone over a parking spot

ZOLA _sent a picture_

SAM

There are going to be bruises on his chest from all that jabbing

ZOLA

I just wanna go to schooooool

ZOLA

Kmn lol never thought I'd say THAT sentence

—

Just as Zola glances up from her phone to take another picture, this time of her aunt leaving the argument even more enraged than earlier, something happens.

Aunt Addie looks over at Porsche Guy furiously over her shoulder one last time.

Her Louboutin glides too quickly over a frozen patch of puddle.

She loses her balance.

She falls backward.

Porsche Guy catches her.

Zola's phone catches one very important snapshot.

—

ZOLA _has posted a picture on_ CHATSNAP HOMEROOM CHAT

RYAN SHEPHERD-KERRIGAN-HUNT

Wth?

SAMUEL AVERY

Is that parking lot guy?

HARRIET KEPNER

awwwwww who's that with miss montgomery are theyhugging

WILLIAM BAILEY

Who's the dude?

ZOLA GREY

I have no idea who that is but I ship it

SAMUEL AVERY

Wasn't she close to punching him like five seconds ago

SAMUEL AVERY

Doesn't set the best standard

ZOLA GREY

Ya but look at them

RYAN SHEPHERD-KERRIGAN-HUNT

Why was miss montgomery punching someone?

RYAN SHEPHERD-KERRIGAN-HUNT

That's hot

WILLIAM BAILEY

Yes! Teacher fight! I need to see that

HARRIET KEPNER

They have chemistryyyyyyyyy

HARRIET KEPNER

I love it

—

Aunt Addie wrestles her way out of Porsche Guy's smirking arms, a healthy blush making its way up her neck, and struts back to the car as confidently as one can with bloody, torn up knees.

She slams the car door shut behind her to show that she's still unhappy, and parks in Vice Principal Burke's parking spot, which is free now that Vice Principal Burke lives in Switzerland/Sweden.

"Would you like a band-aid?" Zola asks Aunt Addie, fighting an excited grin.

"No thanks, Zo," Aunt Addie says, frowning.

"Who was that?" Zola asks.

"An idiot."

Zola nods, following Aunt Addie in beginning to undo her seatbelt and get out of the car.

Aunt Addie sighs heavily. "That was the new Vice Principal," she tells Zola. "Make sure he gets a bad nickname. He's the most ridiculous, insulting, incompetent jerk I've ever met. _McJerk_."

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

HATTIE

I'm calling him McSteamy.

 **So, I don't know about the US, but in the UK a homeroom teacher is pretty involved in their students' lives. They see their homeroom class twice a day every school day, help them if they're in trouble, etc. etc. They see them more than other teachers and some parents, so they're pretty close with their class. For the purposes of this story, if that's not the sameness for the US, let's please pretend it is. Also for the purposes of this story, let's pretend US schools don't have lockers, because it's safe for students to carry around their own bags, which means that students can leave these bags in their homeroom class during recess/break/lunch and contribute to plot lines. Thanks! Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bonjour! I wasn't going to post but then I figured, it's a short chapter, what the hell. Live life on the edge. Did you know that Americans don't use the term 'cinema'? If you're American, you probably did. (I didn't).**

 **Chapter Two**

It's shortly before the bell is due to ring for homeroom.

Zola Shepherd is by the radiator opposite to her homeroom with Sam Avery, talking. They're always early to homeroom so they can avoid crowds.

They're discussing a world history assignment when Ms. Montgomery leaves the classroom, in the direction of the teachers' lounge.

By the time she returns with a towering stack of essays, they're arranging a trip to the movies.

When they see Vice Principal Sloan leave the teachers' lounge with a steaming mug of coffee, completely immersed in his phone, the two get a distinctly bad feeling.

When Sloan and Montgomery collide with a yelp, the two of them watch in fascinated horror.

Fresh coffee drenches at least fifty essays, as well as Ms. Montgomery and her beige, designer dress.

A heavy first degree burn blooms across Ms. Montgomery's collarbone and some of her shoulder, and a frustrated hiss escapes her lips.

"Jesus!" Vice Principal Sloan exclaims, shoving the scattered essays aside next to his mug (plastic, therefore not shattered). "You okay?"

"How is it," Ms. Montgomery says through gritted teeth, "that every time I see you, I end up getting hurt? For the love of God, look where you're going!"

"You're the one who wasn't looking!" Vice Principal Sloan protests.

Ms. Montgomery huffs and pushes herself up off the floor, gathering up the essays with some unwanted help from Vice Principal Sloan.

"I really am sorry, Red," the Vice Principal tells Ms. Montgomery, catching her by the elbow so she can't leave, and brushing against the burn left on her skin.

The bell rings, and half the members of Zola's homeroom have flooded the hallway in under a minute.

" _Oh my god_ ," Hattie Kepner breathes to Sam and Zola as she rushes up to them. "Would you look at them? They're perfect!"

"I'm sending you the dry cleaning bill," Ms. Montgomery informs Vice Principal Sloan coldly. "You're lucky I keep a spare change of clothes at work."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed on the last two chapters, you're all great! This feels sorta fun to write, so I hope you're enjoying it. Unfortunately, as Maddison are the main characters, and most of the POV belongs to their students, other characters and pairings will probably be at a minimum, although there may be some appearances from Callie or maybe Zola's family.**

 **Chapter 3**

There is coincidence, and there is fate.

Hattie is convinced it's fate.

Actually, it's neither. It's Debbie, the school secretary, who schedules this kind of thing and likes to play matchmaker.

But Zola and Hattie aren't aware of that, and luckily neither are Vice Principal Sloan or Ms. Montgomery, neither of whom would be happy to know about it.

Hattie's in detention for using her phone in school. Zola's there because Ms. Robbins wouldn't believe that her sister ate her English homework, even though that's exactly what Ellis did, being the average polite seven year old.

Detention is hardly a cause for celebration until the two girls enter the room.

Hattie enters first, and sees it first, and immediately whirls around to beam at Zola.

It takes barely a second for Zola to realise what must be happening, and then Zola beams back too.

Then Hattie drags her to the front of the room so they can have front seats to watching Vice Principal Sloan and Ms. Montgomery, who are sat like sulking toddlers, each facing away from the other on a chair in the other corner of the room.

Zola's beam fades a little. Which is understandable. Generally speaking, even losers don't want to sit in the front of a detention.

Ms. Montgomery notices Zola, and gives her a nod of acknowledgement, but nothing more. It wouldn't be professional for her to start speaking to Zola, especially right in the middle of a punishment.

The two teachers manage to quiet the students – an arsonist, seven people who were using their phones, and two girls who had a huge cat fight – down, then tell everybody but the cat fight girls (who are writing essays on conflict resolution) to get on with homework.

For a while, everything is relatively peaceful – bar Hattie's excited looks, which pointedly go from Ms. Montgomery to Vice Principal Sloan, then to Zola.

Then Vice Principal Sloan pulls out his lunch.

Or maybe it's his dinner. Or maybe his snack.

Whatever it is, it includes a pickle. Lots of other stuff, but the pickle is the most important. It's sealed in a plastic bag.

Ms. Montgomery wrinkles her nose. "What is that?"

"Food," Vice Principal Sloan tells her.

She rolls her eyes. "It smells."

He grins as though he finds that heavily amusing. "We're in detention. The windows in this room don't open. My food stinks. Detention is a punishment. Therefore, I as an educator shall be punishing these students in detention by keeping them in a room which smells of my food."

Ms. Montgomery looks at him disparagingly. She's always looking at him that way, although – in her defence – with some sort of reason.

Vice Principal Sloan can have some very funny ways of teaching, like asking students to run his errands (home economics! Responsibility!) or telling stories with questionable morals, often starting in bars (English! Theology!)

"Want my pickle?" Sloan asks Ms. Montgomery, in a perfect example of the very qualities which make Ms. Montgomery look at him this way.

He knows exactly what he's doing. The smirk on his face is even more satisfied than usual.

Sniggers echo through the room from the students.

"You should have it," Ms. Montgomery tells him brightly. "You shouldn't have to share; that's a pretty small pickle."

Hattie nudges Zola, while the room is still settling and their speaking can be acceptable.

"What?" Zola whispers.

"It's happening," Hattie whispers back joyfully.

"What is?"

"They're going from hatred to banter!"

"No, they're not," Zola scoffs.

Sloan turns back to Ms. Montgomery, waving the pickle in the air.

"You sure?" He asks. "It may be small, but I'm very generous."

This time Zola believes Hattie.

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! They were really nice and I'm glad you all seemed to like it. I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying writing this. Hope you like this too!**

 **Chapter Four**

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

ZOLA GREY

Hey

ZOLA GREY 

Can you help me with my algebra hwk?

SAMUEL AVERY

Sure

SAMUEL AVERY

But first

SAMUEL AVERY

Guess where I went today

ZOLA GREY

Um

ZOLA GREY

School?

ZOLA GREY

Idk

ZOLA GREY

Tell me

SAMUEL AVERY 

I went to the teachers' lounge!

ZOLA GREY

Whoa dude

ZOLA GREY

Nobody's been there!

ZOLA GREY

Literally

ZOLA GREY

Like ever

ZOLA GREY 

You're going to become a school legend!

ZOLA GREY

How did you even get in there?!

SAMUEL AVERY 

Well

SAMUEL AVERY

I was walking to the library

SAMUEL AVERY 

To meet Ryan and Tuck

SAMUEL AVERY

But then I got stopped by Vice Principal Sloan

SAMUEL AVERY

Who was all, Hey kid, I'm gonna give you this twenty bucks, and you're going to buy me a sandwich

ZOLA GREY

Twenty bucks?

ZOLA GREY

Damn

ZOLA GREY

Must be some sandwich XD

SAMUEL AVERY

I kept the change ;)

SAMUEL AVERY

Anyway Sloan he'd be in the teachers' lounge

SAMUEL AVERY 

And to bring him the sandwich once I'd got it

SAMUEL AVERY 

Which meant I'd have to go into the teachers' lounge to give it to him

SAMUEL AVERY

Although I don't know if he realised that meant I'd get to go in

ZOLA GREY

So?

ZOLA GREY

What was it like?

SAMUEL AVERY

Not as cool as we all thought

SAMUEL AVERY

It actually looks pretty much like a classroom

SAMUEL AVERY

Except with a kitchen

SAMUEL AVERY

And couches

ZOLA GREY

Well that's a disappointment :(

ZOLA GREY

What were all the teachers doing

SAMUEL AVERY

Talking mostly

SAMUEL AVERY

Oh hey Sloan was arguing with Ms. Montgomery XD

ZOLA GREY

Really?

ZOLA GREY

About what

SAMUEL AVERY

Romeo and Juliet

SAMUEL AVERY

From what I gathered

SAMUEL AVERY

He thinks it's a masterpiece and she thinks it's a superficial infatuation

ZOLA GREY

I don't know if that's sad or adorable

ZOLA GREY

Do teachers have nothing better to talk about?

SAMUEL AVERY

I was surprised they were talking at all tbh

SAMUEL AVERY

I mean they REALLY hate each other

ZOLA GREY

Doesn't mean they won't talk

ZOLA GREY

Aunt Addie hates Mr. Karev, and she speaks to him all the time

SAMUEL AVERY 

About Romeo and Juliet tho?

SAMUEL AVERY

Idk it just seems like a really weird conversation topic

ZOLA GREY

Ironic is what it is ;)

SAMUEL AVERY

I think I ruined their truce tho

ZOLA GREY

How come?

SAMUEL AVERY

Well

SAMUEL AVERY 

I walked over

ZOLA GREY

Duh

SAMUEL AVERY

And I was all, Sir here's your sandwich

SAMUEL AVERY

And he said cool, you can leave now

SAMUEL AVERY

And Ms. Montgomery was all ? Sloan you can't just make students do all this stuff for you it's unethical and irresponsible

SAMUEL AVERY 

And Vice Principal Sloan was like, oh YEAH? Well, I'm Vice Principal, which obviously means I know *something*

ZOLA GREY

Wow

ZOLA GREY

He must have a death wish

SAMUEL AVERY

Yeah it struck a nerve with Ms. Montgomery

SAMUEL AVERY

She should have gotten the Vice Principal position

SAMUEL AVERY

And she knows it

SAMUEL AVERY

Anyway it made them start fighting again

SAMUEL AVERY 

But not in a cute way

SAMUEL AVERY

In their usual ugly but sort of hot way

SAMUEL AVERY 

So I sort of just left

ZOLA GREY

I asked mom

ZOLA GREY 

She says they carried on fighting for ages XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed! It's not shown up on the site yet as far as I can tell, but I was able to read it on my email. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five**

When Meredith Grey chose the new Vice Principal, she went to great efforts to choose in a way which meant she wouldn't seem biased. She went to all the trouble of looking for a candidate outside the school, so her personal-professional relationships wouldn't be questioned.

Looking back, it may have been a far better an idea to just choose somebody already working at Seattle Grace High.

In her years at the school, since beginning work there as a mere biology teacher, Meredith has seen her fair share of staff relationships. When people work together several hours a day, five days of the week, relationships of some sort are always inevitably formed.

Sometimes, relationships go beyond friendship.

A majority of the relationships at SGH have been either superficial – the brief flirtation between Izzie and Alex, George's fling with Callie Torres – or really serious – like Meredith's relationship with Derek, or Cristina's engagement to Burke before he freaked out and left.

The most Meredith has ever had to do on the topic is speak to Alex about finding a different place to screw through, after his affair with Rebecca Pope from foreign languages and his one night stands with Reed Adamson from theology and Olivia, one of the teacher's assistants.

She isn't sure what to do about Addison and the new Vice Principal.

They aren't together. She's not even sure if they like each other. The two of them argue often, and passionately.

But they have potential. And everybody sees it. It's distracting, unprofessional, and has a bad influence on the students – there's nothing worse than two teachers disrespecting each other, or two teachers displaying unhealthy relationships around the corridor (students can't think a relationship with so much hatred can be healthy! She can't have Addison and Mark romanticising it, even if they're unaware of it themselves).

The teachers' lounge is full of whispers. Knowing looks and smirking nudges.

Meredith sees it, hears it. She's Principal; of course she does.

For all the differences they may claim, teachers strongly parallel students. At lunch, everybody sits in cliques.

Despite her position, Meredith is not queen bee – she wants respect, but she does not need ass-kissing, because she's not that kind of chief.

She sits with her friends, where she's always sat. At the corner table by the window: with George, who replaced her in biology after she became Vice Principal some ten years ago; Izzie, who's a guidance counsellor; Cristina and Alex, who teach math.

There is no queen bee, really, but they do have a popular kids' table.

Her husband sits on one end, like a king, as he grades his papers; along one side, Hunt and Altman from phys ed; along the other, Robbins from English and Torres from music.

Addison sits opposite Derek, next to Mark, who has pulled up a swivel chair and is swivelling from side to side on it while he talks to Addison. From what Meredith can gather, they're exchanging anecdotes from days at 'the club'; she wonders whether they know how obnoxious it makes them sound, and what part of the conversation will make them erupt into fighting again.

"Mer?" Cristina says. "George's house? Tequila, tonight?"

Meredith remembers it's impolite to stare and turns back to her friends. "Tonight?" She repeats doubtfully. "Could we do my house, or something?"

"Yours has kids," Cristina explains shortly.

"There's nobody to look after them if I go," Meredith tells them apologetically. "And Zola's still too young to stay home with both of them."

"What about McDreamy?" Izzie asks. "Can't he stay home with the kids?"

"He's flying over to New York again over the weekend," Meredith explains. "You know, with his mom. They say she's getting better now, but Kath's stuck in Tibet, Nancy's looking after Liz's kids, and Liz is keeping Doug company at the hospital, so Carolyn's just stuck with a bunch of college age grandkids. I think Derek feels guilty for living so far away."

"Doesn't Addison watch the kids a lot?" George says. "Maybe she wouldn't mind watching the kids."

Meredith shakes her head. "She looks after them too much," she tells George gloomily. "It's too soon to ask her again without seeming rude. And she just had them for a week while we were in NY already."

"We can come to yours, Mer," Izzie beams. "I haven't seen Ellis in forever, since she got that cast off her arm a few weeks ago, I think. Is she better now?"

"She's fine," Cristina answers for Meredith. "I saw her jumping out of a tree yesterday."

"She was pretending she was a parachuter," Meredith says. It gave Meredith a heart attack when she saw it happen herself; for a moment she'd been terrified that Ellis had ended up inheriting Meredith's dark and twisty problems.

"Is that Samuel Avery with a sandwich?" George asks.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: I've found my new Richard and Adele

So… you know Violet Turner and Cooper Freedman?

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: not another Richard and Adele

You have to stop pairing students together like this. Don't you have anything else to spend your time on?

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: YES another Richard and Adele

You forget that I'm good at this. I have love INSTINCTS. Violet and Cooper are adorable together, they're obviously going to date one day, I'm just giving them a little push in that direction.

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Richard and Adele

Ok, but what if – and I know this may be hard for you to comprehend – Violet and Cooper don't appreciate you getting involved in their private lives this way? Not to mention: very unprofessional, I doubt the parents would like it.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Richard and Adele

How would anybody even find out?! Besides, I'm not even really getting involved! I'm just assigning two students a project, while briefly thinking they could make a good couple.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Richard and Adele

Besides, I'm always right when this happens Mer. You know I am. You were there! You remember Richard and Adele.

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Richard and Adele

Yes, I remember Richard and Adele. They were two unlucky students who caught your eye and ended up getting assigned all their projects together, until they felt obliged to concede to fate and get together, and eventually get married, which you love to tell people. They also got a divorce, which you always neglect to share.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Richard and Adele

Well, they shouldn't have gotten divorced. They could have worked through their problems.

But, speaking of cute couples who are meant to be… Addison and Sloan XD. What do you think? ;) ;) ;)

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

I'm not sure whether to tell them to cut it out

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Addison and Sloan

Don't you dare! That right there is a romance blossoming right in front of our faces!

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

That's not a romance blossoming… it's a divorce. And anyway, they don't even like each other. They're always arguing.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Addison and Sloan

They're just frustrated from all that sex-ual tension… ;)

Which you yourself admitted is SO there.

Honestly, I don't know who they're kidding, they should just do it already!

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

NO! No doing it!

Izzie, stop meddling.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Addison and Sloan

You're right.

They should take it slow…

And then get married and have lots of very cute redheaded babies. I can picture the two of them with at least two or four little girls.

Those two are a genetic GOLDMINE XD

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

… seriously.

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Addison and Sloan

Look, fine, I'll stop, but seriously, leave the two of them alone. They aren't doing anybody any harm. And anyway, Addison deserves this after everything she went through, with you and Derek, and then after what happened with Jake…

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

Are you guilt-tripping me?

—

To: MGREY

From: ISTEVENS

Subject: Addison and Sloan

All I'm saying is that she and Henry could use some good luck and a good guy. And you don't want to be the guy who gets in the way of that…

—

To: ISTEVENS

From: MGREY

Subject: Addison and Sloan

I'm SOooo going to regret this.

—

Over the following days, she resigns herself to watching them talk, then argue, then talk more and argue less, until they stop coming to the lounge for lunch at all.


	6. Chapter 6

**I guess I'm updating daily now? I figured there couldn't be any harm in it, and surprisingly enough, I'm actually on track with writing stuff, so it seems befitting. Thanks to everybody who reviewed on the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one too.**

 **Chapter Six**

It's the day Harriet Kepner has to hand in her physics project. She doesn't have physics until fourth period, so she's leaving her project in her homeroom teacher's supply closet until then to keep it safe.

While Hattie is in the supply closet, Ms. Montgomery receives a visitor.

Vice Principal Sloan enters the room looking somewhat sheepish, in comparison to his usual smug stride. He's holding a garment bag.

Ms. Montgomery is sat at her desk, finishing off a PowerPoint for one of her lessons. She doesn't notice Vice Principal until he clears his throat.

"Can I help you, Vice Principal Sloan?" Ms. Montgomery asks coldly.

"The dry cleaners' called," Vice Principal Sloan announces. "They, uh, couldn't get the stain out of your dress, so I replaced it. How's that burn coming along?"

He holds out the garment bag.

Ms. Montgomery walks over and takes it. "Thanks," she tells him coolly, folding it over her chair. She ignores his question.

They so obviously like each other, Hattie thinks. They're just still in the pigtail-pulling stage. She pulls up ChatSnap on her phone to inform everybody else of this development.

"Hey," Vice Principal Sloan says from the doorway where he must have been just about to leave. "Fish."

He's looking at the large tank holding the class pets, which sits in a corner in the front of the room so Ms. Montgomery can keep an eye on it.

"Accurate observation," Ms. Montgomery says dryly. "It's good that your eyesight is still functioning. It'll save you a visit to the eye doctor."

"What are they called?" Vice Principal Sloan asks with interest, walking up to the tank and looking inside like a fascinated child.

Ms. Montgomery's face softens. Hattie beams.

Ms. Montgomery joins Vice Principal Sloan by the fish tank. "The goldfish," she tells him, "are Gandalf and Dumbledore. That one, by the treasure chest, is Dantes. This Guppy is Yossarian, and that one is Raskolnikov – Raskolnikov is my favourite. Nobody can really tell the Tetras – the tiny ones – apart, but their names are Gulliver, Huckleberry, and Galadriel. And that big one there is Gatsby."

The fishes are a huge factor in Ms. Montgomery's street cred at school. Nobody else has any class pets, except the biology teacher, Zola's dad, Mr. Shepherd who has a pair of guinea pigs named Nancy and Amy, so everybody thinks the fish are pretty cool. During lessons, their tank makes for good background noise.

"Literary names, huh?" Vice Principal Sloan says. He's smiling too, which makes Hattie smile even more. She switches from ChatSnap to InstaPic, and takes a picture of the two.

"I get a new one every other year or so, and my students always help choose the name," Ms. Montgomery explains. "Once there's a theme established, it's hard to stray from that. Plus it encourages the students to get involved in finding a good name, and sometimes they'll read a book while they're at it."

But most people just Goggle suggestions.

"That's a good idea," Vice Principal Sloan says. "I should have thought of it back when I was an English teacher."

" _No_ ," Ms. Montgomery says. "You were an English teacher? I thought you must have been- phys ed, or maths, or something."

The English department have a friendly rivalry with maths. Ms. Montgomery is actually quite close with some of them, like The Nazi, but she hates Mr. Karev, who bears a distinct similarity to Vice Principal Sloan.

"Me?" Vice Principal Sloan scoffs. "Phys ed? As if I'd be seen dead in those ridiculous shorts."

Hattie quite happily imagines Vice Principal Sloan in those kinds of shorts, and thinks Ms. Montgomery is probably doing the same.

"I think Huckleberry is my favourite," Vice Principal Sloan declares.

"As if you can even tell which one he is," Ms. Montgomery laughs.

"Of course I can!" Vice Principal Sloan declares. "He's that one over there, by the coral thingy. You can tell because he's the smart one."

"And I suppose that fish must be smart?"

"With the way he's looking at the coral thingy? Of course!"

The two of them talk for what feels a long time, until the homeroom bell rings and people start to spill into the classroom. Hattie's legs hurt and she feels very weary from it, but she doesn't care.

A romance is building right in front of her! She can sense it. They were laughing and talking. It's a long way from how they spat single words at each other as far away as ten minutes ago.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to all reviewers! Reviews are my crack! The next few chapters are short, so I'm publishing them all tonight to make up for that. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Seven**

It's once more early morning, and per usual Sam and Zola are hanging out together by homeroom.

This means they see Vice Principal Sloan enter Ms. Montgomery's classroom.

It means they can peek round the small window in the door to see him sit down by the fish tank.

To see Ms. Montgomery sit beside him.

To see the two of them talk for a very, very long time happily.

Sam and Zola exchange looks.

Since when do Sloan and Montgomery so much as breathe in the same room happily?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The next day, they wait in excited anticipation outside homeroom.

Vice Principal Sloan does not disappoint.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Vice Principal Sloan is very consistent, and soon he is not only visiting every morning but he is bringing coffee. Always a pumpkin spice latte for Ms. Montgomery, because he knows she hates pumpkin.

The two of them continue to bicker and argue. In fact, it's entirely possible they bicker and argue more.

But not in the morning. Not while they watch the fish. Not when they really talk to each other.

Soon this is common knowledge, and crowds of shipping students will excitedly crowd around the small door in the window to admire the OMG SOOO IN LOVE COUPLE #GOALS.

It is not morning yet if Sam and Zola have not seen Vice Principal Sloan enter Ms. Montgomery's class, and he hasn't done that if Hattie hasn't excitedly run into school to see it and post this on InstaPic.

Over time, the hype wears down a little, but the sight of the two teachers together remains a cause to giggle a little and make quiet kissing noises.


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay, chapter ten already! I know it's technically cheating, since I just posted like five chapters all at once when really I probably should have just put them all together into one chapter, but... oh well. Now the couple stuff starts! Hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter Ten**

It's once again, morning, and Sam and Zola are stood outside homeroom awaiting Vice Principal Sloan's arrival.

Today, it is different.

He storms into the room, and he seems annoyed.

They press their ears against the door, and are able to make out the gist of the conversation.

 _I've been signed up to chaperone the school skiing trip!_

 _It's your own fault for treating students like personal assistants! You're lucky the punishment isn't anything worse!_

 _It's YOUR fault for complaining about me in the first place!_

 _MY fault!_

They back away quickly as Vice Principal Sloan storms back out, and feel sorry for the students who will have to deal with Ms. Montgomery's anger for the next few periods.

Today, Vice Principal Sloan and Ms. Montgomery fight, and it is brutal.

But today, at lunch, Vice Principal Sloan brings Ms. Montgomery a cupcake.

A peace offering.

She smashes it in his face – apparently he deserves it – but he doesn't get angry, only wipes frosting away from his eyes and tugs her inside his office to talk.

When they leave, she is still irritable and he's still moody but the problem has been resolved.

Today, they tear each other apart and apologise.

Today, Hattie passes by the roster for the school skiing trip and sees that Ms. Montgomery has signed up as a chaperone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Yayyy reviews! Thanks all y'all for the reviews. I know some of them are still lagging, but genuinely, just the knowledge that someone has reviewed is seriously enough to brighten your day. I'm glad everybody's liking it so far. This is a pretty simple chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Eleven**

 **—**

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT! XD 3

HARRIET KEPNER

Omg! I have news!

SAMUEL AVERY

Were they kissing?

ZOLA GREY

Are they engaged?

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

told you mcsteamy and mahogany were screwing

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

*mchot lol

HARRIET KEPNER

Sloan has a daughter!

ZOLA GREY

Oh man

ZOLA GREY

Does he have a wife

SAMUEL AVERY

Nah he doesn't have a wedding ring

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

Not all married people wear rings

WILLIAM BAILEY

Told you they were probably just friends

HARRIET KEPNER

No! You guys! You don't understand!

HARRIET KEPNER

Sloan's daughter is a freshman

HARRIET KEPNER

She goes to our school

HARRIET KEPNER

Imagine all the dirt we could get

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

ew freshman

SAMUEL AVERY

Do you even know her name?

ZOLA GREY

You're late

ZOLA GREY

I've already done a complete search of InstaPic, Tweeter, and MugBook

ZOLA GREY

Her name is Sofia Robin Sloan

ZOLA GREY

She's fourteen

ZOLA GREY

Her favourite song is Bodak Yellow and she likes Camilla Cabello

ZOLA GREY

She's great at selfies but her contour could use a little work

ZOLA GREY

Ooh

ZOLA GREY

She also has a Stumblr. Her nic is littlebluerobin

ZOLA GREY

She likes using Robin as a username

SAMUEL AVERY

That's great but doesn't really help us much

HARRIET KEPNER

Aw she's so cute

HARRIET KEPNER

Freshmen are such babies it's adorable

SAMUEL AVERY

Are there any photos of her with like a mom figure

ZOLA GREY

A few

ZOLA GREY

Nice face

ZOLA GREY

Sorta ginger hair

HARRIET KEPNER

But all her pictures with mom lady are dated at least a year or so ago

HARRIET KEPNER

She has loads of pictures with her dad and stuff from just a few days ago

SAMUEL AVERY

Would it be weird to track down Little Sloan?

ZOLA GREY

Bet she'd love getting attention from a bunch of juniors

WILLIAM BAILEY

You're all psycho stalkers

WILLIAM BAILEY

And that poor little girl doesn't deserve this

WILLIAM BAILEY

And I don't support this

WILLIAM BAILEY

But Sloan and Montgomery are having a lunch date in her class

HARRIET KEPNER

OMG

HARRIET KEPNER

SO CUTEEEEEEEEE

SAMUEL AVERY

Your investment in this? somewhat worrying

HARRIET KEPNER

As if you aren't a diehard shipper

ZOLA GREY

TUCK

ZOLA GREY

WAIT THERE

ZOLA GREY

OMW


	12. Chapter 12

**I didn't post yesterday, because I was trying to write a Valentine's chapter for a little later on, but then I fell asleep... now I feel guilty, so I'm double-posting again! Thank you for all the reviews. The mahogany/mchot thing was actually a typo my phone made that I liked and kept. Hope you enjoy this!**

 **Chapter Twelve**

By the time Zola arrives, frazzled, from the library with a half-finished geography essay in her hand, a small gaggle of other students is very unsubtly staring at Ms. Montgomery and Vice Principal Sloan while giggling.

"Zo!" Hattie exclaims. "They're adorable! Come see!"

She drags Zola right into the centre of the crowd.

Ms. Montgomery and Vice Principal Sloan are, indeed, definitely having a lunch date.

While it's not uncommon for other teachers to have lunch with Ms. Montgomery in her class – in fact, it's fairly common with teachers like Ms. Torres or The Nazi, or even Zola's dad Mr. Shepherd – those teachers usually sit at one of the students' desks, where there is more room.

Vice Principal Sloan has merely pulled up a chair to Ms. Montgomery's desk, so that if it weren't for the wooden surface between them, their knees could be touching.

Not only that, but they're leaning towards each other over the desk too.

"You see?" Hattie squeaks happily. "They may as well be making out!"

"Look at their eyes!" adds Sam. "They're in love. It's obvious?"

They so totally are.

"You can't even see their eyes," Tuck points out like some kind of huge spoilsport. "Sloan has his back to us, and Sloan's head is blocking Montgomery's face."

"Because they're romantically gazing into each other's eyes!" Hattie squeals, so loudly that everybody has to duck for cover as the two teachers glance in the direction of the noise.

"What are they eating?" Zola whispers to Sam.

"Why?" Tuck asks incredulously, staring at her.

"Because," Zola says impatiently. "It says a lot about their intentions. If they're just friends, they'll be fine eating like, onions or whatever that's smelly or messy or spicy, but if it's romantic they'll want to wait a bit until that phase."

Hattie nods enthusiastically, but Tuck sighs heavily.

"Sloan has a salad," Sam reports to Zola, peeking into the window again. "He's giving her all the croutons. He must not like them."

Weirdo. Everybody loves croutons.

"What's Montgomery eating?" Zola hisses.

"Ummm," Sam glances again. "Sushi."

"Good," Zola says. "That's good."

"Did you know eating sushi on a first date boosts your chances of a second date by over 170%?" Hattie asks.

Hopefully Ms. Montgomery is very aware of that too.

"Holy crap!" Sam squeaks, ducking back down with a grin on his face. "I think you'll be happy."

"What? What?" Hattie squeaks.

The lot of them looks in through the window, and they all melt.

Vice Principal Sloan is tasting Ms. Montgomery's sushi.

Which would be fine. And normal.

If it weren't extremely cute, because Ms. Montgomery is feeding him the sushi, and he's smiling, and she's laughing, and they're almost definitely teasing each other.

Once he's tried the sushi, he kisses her still outstretched fingertips. The two of them laugh it off, although a noticeable blush is creeping up Ms. Montgomery's neck.

But Hattie explodes with a breath of "Awwwwwww," and slumps to floor.

The four of them lean on the classroom door too hard and fall inside, startling both themselves and the teachers.

"Just putting away my essay," Zola tells them as convincingly as she can, sliding the paper into her bag.

She remains very unconvincing, because she looks at Hattie and it's enough to make the two of them burst into giggles again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Who accidentally posted this chapter before chapter twelve? I did! My apologies. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

The school is trying to get more involved in charity work, and Ms. Montgomery's homeroom class are holding a cake sale to raise money for cancer research.

The cake sale is progressing as expected until Vice Principal Sloan arrives.

His presence isn't really noticed until Hattie sees him, because everybody is pretty busy. Business is going relatively well.

She takes a very deep excited breath which means she is holding in a squeal, and violently taps Zola on the shoulder until Zola notices him too.

Hattie and Zola share a grin.

For a while, Vice Principal Sloan fades into the background once more. He looks around, reminds a few students about the dress code, looks in on the class fish.

Then the cake sale nears to a close, the crowd thins. Quite a few cakes remain on the tables.

Vice Principal Sloan seems to notice this, because he strides over and declares in his loud vice principal voice, "I'll take ten."

Hattie releases a very quiet squeal.

Ryan, who is manning that section of the table, splutters. "Ten?"

"Ten, Kerrigan," Vice Principal Sloan repeats. "Is there a problem with that?"

"'Course not, sir," Ryan says, smirking and handing over a tray of baked goods. "Enjoy."

Vice Principal Sloan wanders away a little to stand closer to the doorway. Ms. Montgomery leaves the cakes to join him.

"Wow, these cakes are good!" Vice Principal Sloan announces to everybody nearby. "And they're for charity! Everybody should buy some. You, Kevin, are you buying some of these awesome cakes for charity?"

Kevin mumbles something. Vice Principal Sloan's reply makes Ms. Montgomery laugh.

Then, Hattie momentarily forgets to breathe. Sam chokes on a cake. Zola's face breaks out in a beam.

Vice Principal Sloan jokingly dabs icing on Ms. Montgomery's nose.

She gasps, and smears some on his cheek in turn.

They continue play-fighting, getting closer and closer, all the while laughing.

"I hope they kiss," Zola whispers to Hattie.

"Now that's just weird," Tuck tells them, watching the teachers. "God. I don't wanna see my teachers this way."

They're close. They're so close. Zola can practically see them kissing.

Then the bell for third period rings, recess ends, and Ms. Montgomery backs away and wipes the icing off her face with a tissue.

"I shall be severely disappointed if they don't end up getting married and having ten adorable kids," Hattie shares, still staring after the two breathlessly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for all reviews! Hope you enjoy! Also (because I always forget, and it's ridiculously late in the story) I don't own Grey's Anatomy (as though it weren't already clear).**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

SAMUEL AVERY 

Yo

SAMUEL AVERY 

Zo

SAMUEL AVERY 

You're friends with Ms. Montgomery on MugBook, right?

ZOLA GREY

Yeah XD

ZOLA GREY 

It's awesome but kind of awkward coz it means I get to like second hand spy on all the other teachers who are friends with her

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

What like your parents

ZOLA GREY 

Shut up

ZOLA GREY

But Aunt Addie hasn't posted anything with/about Sloan

ZOLA GREY

I checked

HARRIET KEPNER 

Did you check if they're friends

HARRIET KEPNER 

Maybe there's something of the two of them on HIS account

WILLIAM BAILEY 

You're all desperate and it's creepy

SAMUEL AVERY 

Noooo

SAMUEL AVERY 

My point

SAMUEL AVERY 

I was looking teachers up online right

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Ooh who'd you find

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Did you find anything cool

SAMUEL AVERY 

Some stuff I guess ;)

SAMUEL AVERY 

Did you know Ms. Stevens used to be an underwear model? ;) ;) ;)

WILLIAM BAILEY 

…

SAMUEL AVERY 

But ACTUALLY

ZOLA GREY 

Heyyyyyy yesssssss

ZOLA GREY 

Aunt Addie is totally friends with Sloan on MugBook

ZOLA GREY 

I checked

ZOLA GREY

Which means

SAMUEL AVERY

What I've been trying to say is

ZOLA GREY

I found Sloan's MugBook account

SAMUEL AVERY 

I found Sloan's MugBook account

SAMUEL AVERY 

Dammit Zola!

SAMUEL AVERY 

You stole my thunder!

HARRIET KEPNER 

Nobody cares

HARRIET KEPNER

One of you send a link

HARRIET KEPNER 

And a picture

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

I'm not on MugBook it won't let me access it send pictures

ZOLA GREY _has posted a picture._

—

MUGBOOK

MARK E. SLOAN

[ _Profile picture: Mark, in an ice cream parlour, laughing over huge ice cream sundaes with daughter Sofia_ ]

Dashing, charming, beloved ;)

Proud dad (#SloaneRiley #littlebluerobin) and awesome teacher (go Bulldogs!).

THE YANKEES RULE!

Status: divorced

#Didyoureallyjustaskifyouhavetowriteincompletesentences?

#WhywouldyoudothethingIjusttoldyourclassmatenottodo?

#IfIseeONEMOREKIDflipawaterbottle…

FRIENDS: 563

PICTURES: 68

SOME OF MARK'S FRIENDS YOU MAY RECOGNISE:

AddisonForbes AmeliaShepHunt ArizonaRobbins AzariahWeiss CalliopeT CarolynShepherd DarkandTwisty DerekChristopher DerekJunior GIJane

—

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

Aw man XD

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

That's so cringe-worthy

WILLIAM BAILEY

Because all your online profiles are so great?

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

Heck yeah, man

HARRIET KEPNER

Oh no…

HARRIET KEPNER 

His relationship status just says divorced!

SAMUEL AVERY 

I mean

SAMUEL AVERY

It could be worse

SAMUEL AVERY 

It could say Married…

ZOLA GREY

Besides

ZOLA GREY

Maybe he just hasn't had the time to change it

SAMUEL AVERY

Oh please

SAMUEL AVERY 

I mean I'm on your side here

SAMUEL AVERY 

But dude posts like every other day

HARRIET KEPNER

And honestly who even USES MugBook anymore?

HARRIET KEPNER 

It's soooo 2004…

WILLIAM BAILEY

But…

WILLIAM BAILEY

YOU have a MugBook account

HARRIET KEPNER

Well yeah

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

But so she can spy on teachers

HARRIET KEPNER 

But so I can spy on teachers

HARRIET KEPNER 

Yeah

HARRIET KEPNER 

What Ryan said lol

SAMUEL AVERY 

It doesn't mean they're not together tho

SAMUEL AVERY 

Just coz he hasn't posted it

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

They're hardly going to

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Especially if in real life they're still in the straight closet

WILLIAM BAILEY

Well gee

WILLIAM BAILEY 

I wonder why they feel so devoid of privacy

WILLIAM BAILEY 

That they would prefer to keep their relationship secret…


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! I think this is now officially the longest thing I've ever written! Chapter-wise, obviously... Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story. This chapter is pretty short, but I hope you like it :)**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

Most teachers sit their students boy-girl, alphabetically. This means that Sam Avery has the fortune of sitting right in front of Ms. Montgomery's desk.

From this prime seat, Sam not only has access to Ms. Montgomery's spare pens, but also to a view of her laptop.

Being someone with decent eyesight, he can read a majority of her emails perfectly.

Being work emails, most of these have nothing to do with teaching, except occasionally through mention.

—

To: CTORRES

From: AMONTGOMERY

Subject: eyelash curler

Did I leave it at your place? I can't find mine. Can I borrow yours?

A.

—

Most of these were pretty innocent non-work-related emails, fairly often correlating to Ms. Montgomery's personal life – which he knew plenty about anyway, thanks to Zola – and sometimes also to those of others.

It meant that Sam knew lots of teachers' first names, which was a popular and loved subject of talk amongst bored and under-stimulated students.

What does C Torres stand for? Everybody wondered. Caroline, Casey? Maybe something a little more Hispanic. Carla? Camilla?

No, Sam would tell them all wisely, _Callie_.

For a long time, everybody had somehow been under the mistaken conviction that Ms. Pope's Name was Ava; Sam was the one who told them it was actually Rebecca and no, she wasn't having a relationship with Mr. Karev, because she was married with a daughter.

Mostly, however, all this meant was that Sam had an excuse to be nosy.

—

To: AMONTGOMERY

From: CTORRES

Subject: eyelash curler

Sure.

What do you need it for? ;)

C.

—

To: CTORRES

From: AMONTGOMERY

Subject: eyelash curler

Haha. Very funny. Thanks. I need it because I'm going out and I'd like to look nice.

(And to answer the question you're going to ask) No, I'm not.

—

To: AMONTGOMERY

From: CTORRES

Subject: eyelash curler

Fiiine. Do you need anybody to watch Henry?

—

To: CTORRES

From: AMONTGOMERY

Subject: eyelash curler

Could you? Archer's offered but I'm not sure I trust him after what happened last time…

—

To: AMONTGOMERY

From: CTORRES

Subject: eyelash curler

Of course! Is it for tonight? Me and Arizona don't have anything on except a movie marathon, which Henry should be fine with right?

—

To: CTORRES

From: AMONTGOMERY

Subject: eyelash curler

You're a god Callie Torres! Thank you :)

—

To: AMONTGOMERY

From: CTORRES

Subject: eyelash curler

You can use my eyelash curler when you drop off Henry

—

To: AMONTGOMERY

From: MSLOAN

Subject: eyelash curler

I found an eyelash curler and Sofia swears it's not hers. Are you missing one?

M.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the prolonged absence! I swear, I'm not abandoning this fic. We went skiing this week, but I didn't realise the WiFi would be so dodgy until I tried to save a chapter and instead it all got deleted. To make up for it, I'm going to be posting two new chapters the same day again! Thanks for all the reviews, hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

ZOLA

Hey

ZOLA

Where are you

ZOLA

Sam?

SAM

Can't today remember

SAM

I'm on a trip for AP Lit

SAM

King Lear

SAM

Paramount Theatre

ZOLA

Aw

SAM

You have Hattie tho

ZOLA

Yeah

ZOLA

I guess

SAM

Hey

SAM

Sloan's gonna be lonely without his lunch buddy

ZOLA

Huh?

ZOLA

OH

ZOLA

Ya

ZOLA

Aunt Addie

ZOLA

AP Lit

ZOLA

Took me a second

SAM

XD

ZOLA

Great

ZOLA

I'm missing my best friend AND I don't even get to watch my ship

ZOLA

:(

SAM

Hey maybe Sloan will come with us lol

ZOLA

Omg imagine if he did I'd cry

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SAM

SLOAN IS COMIG ON GE TRIGGG

SAM

SLOAN

SAM

SLOAN

SAM

SLOAN IS COMING ON THE AP LIT TRIP

SAM

Now if only I could win the lottery

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

ZOLA

WHAT

ZOLA

YES

ZOLA

SLOANS ON THE TRIP

ZOLA

MY LIFE IS COMPLETE

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SAM

Hey how goes it

SAM

We're at intermission

ZOLA

Pretty cool

ZOLA

It's raining and the cafeteria is crowded so dads letting me Hattie and Sof crash in his classroom for lunch

SAM

Sof?

ZOLA

Sofia

SAM

Right

SAM

Sofia

SAM

Sloan

ZOLA

Speaking of, how's that coming along?

SAM

They're sat next to each other, for all it's worth

SAM

On the ride over AND here in the theatre

SAM

And you know, there's only a few reasons why a Vice Principal could be on a meagre AP Lit trip in the first place…

ZOLA

Aw

ZOLA

They're adorable

SAM

And they keep talking

SAM

And I keep accidentally sitting nearby so I can accidentally hear them…

ZOLA

Yeah?

SAM

And for the most part it's pretty innocent, but then she was talking about how she's babysitting this weekend

ZOLA

Yeah Aunt Nai and Uncle Sam are going on a delayed honeymoon, so Aunt Addie's looking after Betsy and Aiden

ZOLA

I swear poor Aunt Addie

ZOLA

Bad enough she has her own kid, but she's always looking after everyone else's

SAM

At least Henry's never lonely

ZOLA

Like, first it was moi and Bailey and Ellis while mom and dad were in NY

ZOLA

And then it was Esther coz Aunt Savvy and Uncle Weiss were in Thailand

ZOLA

And I think she's still dog-sitting for Aunt Kathy?

SAM

So she was talking about how she was babysitting

ZOLA

Right XD sorry

SAM

Yeah and she was all he's so cute, he has little rolls of fat

ZOLA

They're adorable fat babies are the cutest

SAM

And he's all haha you're babysitting

SAM

And she's all, you wanna come over and help?

SAM

And they laugh it off but like

SAM

!?

SAM

It's hardly a casual statement

SAM

And part of me actually thinks she meant it?

ZOLA

It'd be pretty cute if she did

ZOLA

I'll walk over to talk to Betsy and check

ZOLA

Now how am I supposed to make it all the way through math?! You've got me all worked up! XD

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SAM

Hey

SAM

On our way back now

ZOLA

Great

ZOLA

Me and Sof will wait for you the school gates

ZOLA

Hattie has debate club

ZOLA

But she wants to hear all about everything tomorrow

SAM

How come Sofia's waiting

ZOLA

She's coming over to mine

ZOLA

For dinner

SAM

Oh

SAM

Cool

SAM

Hey I think Ms. Montgomery's asleep

ZOLA

Yeah?

SAM

Her head's on Sloan's shoulder

ZOLA

Awww

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SAM

Hi where r u?

SAM

I think Sloan and Montgomery are going home together

SAM

Or carpooling or something

ZOLA

Sorry we left I really had to pee :)

SAM

That's okay :)


	17. Chapter 17

**As promised. Hope you enjoy this too! (Also, I've only just noticed this, whenever you see a weird random three somewhere in this, it's supposed to be a love heart; for some reason, the site won't let me use a "less than" sign).**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

There are fancy restaurants, and then there is The Archfield.

Students don't go to The Archfield, because The Archfield is not that kind of restaurant. The Archfield has menu items with prices ending in multiple zeroes, and only accept reservations arranged months – even years – in advance. It's modern by Seattle standards, which often attracts people that are a new, pretentious kind of rich.

Ms. Montgomery comes from a different kind of rich, so it's relatively surprising to see her at The Archfield, at a table for two, looking like she wants to impress (and succeeding).

Then again, maybe that's why Ms. Montgomery chose The Archfield. Somewhere people won't expect to see her, and somewhere she shouldn't have to expect to see any of the above people.

On a normal night, this would be a good idea, except Samuel Avery is also at The Archfield.

His great grandfather – a really big, rich surgeon of some kind – is in town and he's treating Sam and his dad to dinner. He's left choice of restaurant to Sam's dad, which makes The Archfield a completely unsurprising choice for the Averys.

They've just finishing their appetisers – Sam isn't exactly even sure what he has eaten, except that there is caviar and the word crème is somewhere in the title – when Sam notices his teacher.

Is she on a date? It seems very likely, although he supposes it could be something else.

Who is she on a date with?

Sam cranes his neck around to try and see, but it earns him a disapproving look from his grandfather, so he stops doing it, and instead pulls his phone into his lap.

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

SAMUEL AVERY

I'm at The Archfield

WILLIAM BAILEY

Good for you?

SAMUEL AVERY

And Ms. Montgomery's here on a date

HARRIET KEPNER 

OMG! Who with?

SAMUEL AVERY 

Idk I can't see

ZOLA GREY

Well go LOOK

HARRIET KEPNER

Pretend you're going to the bathroom or something!

SAMUEL AVERY 

I don't want her to SEE me

SAMUEL AVERY

I get that this is our ship and everything

SAMUEL AVERY 

But this is still a teacher

SAMUEL AVERY 

ANd there's nothing worse, or more awkward, than seeing a teacher outside of school

HARRIET KEPNER

SAMMY

HARRIET KEPNER

It is WORTH the risk

SAMUEL AVERY 

My steak is here

SAMUEL AVERY 

I have to go

—

He is waiting for his dessert, croquembouche, when Ms. Montgomery and her date begin to leave.

Idly, a part of him really is wondering who the guy is. Are they handsome? What do they have that Vice Principal Sloan doesn't have? Which date is this? Surely an early date, given a comfortable couple wouldn't go to all this effort.

Then the adult couple turn a corner.

Sam chokes, and snorts Coca Cola up his nose by accident, but barrels through the stinging pain to whip out his phone and attempt to quickly take a subtle picture.

He is not, as it seems, very subtle.

Vice Principal Sloan is wrapping his arm around Ms. Montgomery's waist as he says something to her, when Sam takes the picture, and he looks straight into the camera so he and Sam can exchange one and a half minutes of dreadful, awkward eye contact.

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

SAMUEL AVERY _has posted a picture._


	18. Chapter 18

**Might post another chapter today if I have time. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, lovely people! Hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

In homeroom, Zola's handing out permission slips for the school skiing trip. The atmosphere is relaxed; not a lot's going on.

Hattie leans over to talk to Sam, who is directly in front of her. "They were together again this morning," she whispers to Sam, although she's quite frankly terrible at whispering. "I saw her coming out of his office."

She looks ready to stay more, but pauses when she realises the class has gone silent and Ms. Montgomery is listening in to the conversation.

"Carry on, Hattie," Ms. Montgomery encourages her, seeming amused. "Teachers like to know all the gossip too, you know."

"So," Hattie says to Sam in a high voice. "Um, yeah, I think Violet's petition is going to be really successful." She finishes, looking anywhere but at the people around her, blushing.

Ms. Montgomery nods, clearly smart enough to know Hattie's completely faking it. "Right. How was everybody's weekend, then?"

" _My_ weekend was chill, Miss," Ryan declares.

"That's great, Ryan," Ms. Montgomery says. "What did you do?"

"Went out for dinner, Miss," Ryan says, smirking. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Did you do anything nice?

"Oh, I suppose."

"I bet you did."

"That's kind of you." Everybody has a general sense of where the conversation is going. It's an impending disaster, like watching a train about to crash.

"I went to this real fancy place," Ryan continues, despite Tuck's fed-up groans of bait, bait, so bait. "The Archfield. Have you heard of it, Miss? They do a mean lobster bisque."

A few of the other class members hoot and laugh, all knowing exactly how well Ms. Montgomery knows The Archfield.

Ms. Montgomery smiles, a hint of blush creeping up her face too. "How did I know you were going to say that?" she murmurs, although she thankfully doesn't seem annoyed.

Ryan turns around to Hattie, next to him, and everybody sat behind him. He adds, in a lowered voice so Ms. Montgomery can't hear, "That's right next to the Grand Hyatt Hotel!"

There are more cackles of laughter.

The bell rings, signalling the beginning of first period.

"Actually, let's stay in our seats for a moment, please. I'd like to talk to you all about something." Ms. Montgomery announces.

Sam and Zola exchange a Look.

Is it going to be about their behaviour in assembly? An opportunity to volunteer for something? A school inspection? Grades? Or, worse, something to do with what Ryan just said?

"I know," Ms. Montgomery says. "That you seem to find my friendship with Mr. Sloan interesting. Firstly, I'd like to stress that this is not a romantic relationship, as some of you seem to believe. Secondly, I'd like to ask you to please tone your behaviour down."

The class remains silent. Hattie seems depressed, Tuck seems ashamed, Ryan is rolling his eyes.

"Okay?" Ms. Montgomery says.

"Can we go now, Miss?" Somebody asks.

Ms. Montgomery glances at her watch and sighs. "Of course."

There's a grand racket, and everybody leaves.

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

HARRIET KEPNER

I stand by what I said

HARRIET KEPNER

Casual friends do not just randomly splash out for a fancy dinner at The Archfield, just the two of them, no occasion, dressed up so fancy

HARRIET KEPNER

And with our connections, we'd know if there was an occasion

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT

That whole big speech was the fakest thing I've ever seen


	19. Chapter 19

**So I did have time! I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you like it. I really overuse the term quite. Thanks for reading!**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

MUGBOOK

HATTIE KEPNER has logged on.

SEARCH: ZOLA SHEPHERD

SEARCH: ZOLA GREY

ZOLA GREY

[ _Profile picture: selfie – Zola, pink t-shirt + jeans, arm thrown around #SamuelAvery on the Space Needle, both beaming_ ]

Seattle Grace High School (go Bulldogs!)

Go here to read my stuff on the SGH school newspaper _The Emerald City News_.

Love homegirls #HattieKepner #littlebluerobin and brother from another mother #SamuelAvery

Birthday 21/03/2011

Malawi ﾼ

RIP Doc :(

FRIENDS: 237

PICTURES: 72

SOME OF ZOLA'S FRIENDS YOU MAY RECOGNISE:

AddisonForbes AmeliaShepHunt AzariahWeiss BetsyB-Parker CarolynShepherd DarkandTwisty DerekJunior **DerekChristopher** Dink DragonLady HattieKepner littlebluerobin

—

DEREK CHRISTOPHER S.

[ _Profile picture: Derek at #StPatrick'sDay parade, grinning into camera, younger #DerekJunior sat on his shoulders dressed in green also grinning_ ]

Status: married

Beautiful family #DarkandTwisty #ZolaGrey #DerekJunior and Daddy's girl Ellis

The Clash fan.

YANKEES SUPPORTER.

Seattle Grace High School (Go Bulldogs!)

#WhatwouldDerekJeterdo

#WhatifItoldyoutheinformationyouseekisinthelabdirections?

FRIENDS: 98

PICTURES: 43

SOME OF DEREK'S FRIENDS YOU MAY RECOGNISE:

 **AddisonForbes** AmeliaShepHunt ArizonaRobbins AzariahWeiss CalliopeT CarolynShepherd DarkandTwisty DerekJunior DragonLady EvilSpawn23

—

ADDISON A. FORBES M.

[ _Profile picture: Addison on beach in Fiji, #JakeMiguelReilly's arms wrapped around her waist, holding infant son Henry_ ]

New Yorker raised in Connecticut.

Hates the rain.

Ruler of all that is evil.

Status: in a relationship.

Baby boy Henry 16/12/2020

"People plan and God laughs."

#WASP

FRIENDS: 378

 **PICTURES** : 198

SOME OF ADDISON'S FRIENDS YOU MAY RECOGNISE:

AmeliaShepHunt ArcherMontgomery ArizonaRobbins AzariahWeiss CalliopeT DarkandTwisty DerekChristopher GIJane KathleenHowardPsychiatryPractice

ADDISON'S PICTURES:

198\. Posted two days ago, 23:56

[ _Son Henry, dressed in suit + wearing top hat and fake beard, proudly pointing at camera with wooden cane_ ]

Caption: #MercyWestElementarySchool are having a play all about America's presidents! Henry's playing Abraham Lincoln…

197\. Posted five days ago, 15:32

[ _Selfie – inside coffee house + sat on couch, posing with pursed lips alongside #CalliopeT, who has a moustache from her hot chocolate and has been given bunny ears by Addison_ ]

Caption: Coffee with Callie! XD

196\. Posted one week ago, 12:38

[ _Sat on bench in front of elephant exhibit at zoo beside #MarkESloan, Henry sat between them swinging his legs and grinning as he eats a large soft-serve ice-cream_ ]

Caption: A day at #WoodlandParkZoo with Mark and Henry!

Tag: MarkESloan

—

YOU ARE ON CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

HARRIET KEPNER

OMG

HARRIET KEPNER

GUYS GUYS

HARRIET KEPNER

ZOLA I CANT BELIEVE YOU MISSED THIS

HARRIET KEPNER

I WAS USING YOUR ACCOUNT TO SNOOP THROUGH PEOPLES MUGBOOKS AND I FOUND MS. MONTGOMERY AMD THERE ARE PICTURES OF HER AND SLOAN

HARRIET KEPNER

TOGETHER

HARRIET KEPNER

TOGETHER

HARRIET KEPNER 

OH WOW IM SCREAMING

RYAN KERRIGAN SHEPHERD HUNT 

Hattie

RYAN KERRIGAN SHEPHERD HUNT

Chill

HARRIET KEPNER 

Oh curse you Ryan if you had a MugBook we would have known about this years ago

ZOLA GREY

What?!

ZOLA GREY

Omg I didn't even know, my phone was confiscated!

ZOLA GREY

I'm checking it out now

—

 _ZOLA GREY_ has logged on.

Search: Addison Forbes

—

ADDISON A. FORBES M.

[ _Profile picture: Addison on beach in Fiji, JakeMiguelReilly's arms wrapped around her waist, holding infant son Henry_ ]

New Yorker raised in Connecticut.

Hates the rain.

Ruler of all that is evil.

Status: in a relationship.

Baby boy Henry 16/12/2019

"People plan and God laughs."

#WASP

FRIENDS: 378

 **PICTURES** : 198

SOME OF ADDISON'S FRIENDS YOU MAY RECOGNISE:

AmeliaShepHunt ArcherMontgomery ArizonaRobbins AzariahWeiss CalliopeT DarkandTwisty DerekChristopher GIJane KathleenHowardPsychiatryPractice

ADDISON'S PICTURES:

198\. Posted two days ago, 23:56

[ _Son Henry, dressed in suit + wearing top hat and fake beard, proudly pointing at camera with wooden cane_ ]

Caption: #MercyWestElementarySchool are having a play all about America's presidents! Henry's playing Abraham Lincoln…

197\. Posted five days ago, 15:32

[ _Selfie – inside coffee house + sat on couch, posing with pursed lips alongside #CalliopeT, who has a moustache from her hot chocolate and has been given bunny ears by Addison_ ]

Caption: Coffee with Callie! XD

196\. Posted one week ago, 12:38

[ _Sat on bench in front of elephant exhibit at zoo beside #MarkESloan, Henry sat between them swinging his legs and grinning as he eats a large soft-serve ice-cream_ ]

Caption: A day at #WoodlandParkZoo with Mark and Henry!

Tag: **MarkESloan**

—

MARK E. SLOAN

[ _Profile picture:_ NEWLY UPDATED. _A barbecue in somebody else's backyard. Mark; one arm around Addison's waist, pulling her closer as she laughs and hitches Henry higher on her hip; other arm around Sofia's shoulder as she sticks her tongue out at camera_ ]

Dashing, charming, beloved ;)

Proud dad (#SloaneRiley #littlebluerobin) and awesome teacher (go Bulldogs!).

THE YANKEES RULE!

Status: in a relationship

#Didyoureallyjustaskifyouhavetowriteincompletesentences?

#WhywouldyoudothethingIjusttoldyourclassmatenottodo?

#IfIseeONEMOREKIDflipawaterbottle…

Friends: 563

Pictures: 68

* **SCREENSHOT** *

—

CHATSNAP

SHIP CHAT 3

ZOLA GREY 

I see your picture from Aunt Addie's account and raise you Sloan's new profile picture

ZOLA GREY _has sent a picture._

HARRIET KEPNER

What?!

HARRIET KEPNER

Yes!

HARRIET KEPNER

This means it's finally official, right!?

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Scratch that!

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Look at their statuses

RYAN SHEPHERD KERRIGAN HUNT 

Sloan's used to just say divorced

HARRIET KEPNER 

There is commitment

HARRIET KEPNER 

They are real

HARRIET KEPNER

Didn't I TELL you miss montgomery was lYiNG?

WILLIAM BAILEY

Oh boy


	20. Chapter 20

**Officially the longest chapter in this entire fic. Happy twenty chapter anniversary! Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers, and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Twenty**

There's about forty or so students in total, all crowded together in grey Go Bulldogs! Seattle Grace High School sweatshirts so that they block half of SeaTac.

"Kepner!" Ms. Montgomery yells from the front of the group, where she is taking roll call. She has to yell, because of all the noise. It should be Vice Principle Sloan who's doing it all, really, given he's more senior, but his voice is going and he can't yell.

Hattie's too busy talking to Betsy Bennett to answer, until Zola elbows her in the ribs and she automatically blurts out, "Here!" except it's too quiet for Ms. Montgomery to hear.

"Kepner?"

"Here!"

"Pay attention, Hattie. Everybody, quieten down so I can hear people answering! Lucas, behave! Kerrigan!"

"Present, Miss!"

"Lambert!"

"Which one!" Somebody else shouts. There are three Lamberts on the trip; a senior, and the two junior Lambert twins.

"Annabeth Lambert!"

"Here!"

"Isabeth Lambert!"

The roll call continues as most roll calls do. "Bet you ten bucks we lose somebody before we get to the gate," Zola whispers to Sam.

"Bet you ten dollars it's one of them," Sam replies, gesturing with his head towards Ryan, Lucas, and Mason.

"I don't think we'll lose anybody," Sofia butts in. She's one of three freshmen on the trip, which means she's naturally sticking to the juniors she's more familiar with. "The teacher:student ratio is too high."

It's true. There are usually far more students on the skiing trip, but this year a lot of the seniors were banned due to behaviour problems – and at least three were pregnant anyway – whereas horror stories of Mike Wilder (who'd gone on the trip the previous year, and broken his foot badly enough to need surgery on the last day of their stay in Colorado, so he got left behind) had been enough to scare away potential freshman candidates.

On the other hand, there are still just as many teachers going on the trip as usual. Ms. Robbins and Ms. Torres and Mr. Karev, who are regulars, as well as Ms. Montgomery and Vice Principal Sloan, and also Ms. Murphy and Mr. Ross and Ms. Blake (although the latter three are brand new baby teachers, straight from college, and it's doubtful any students will actually listen to them).

"Alright!" Ms. Montgomery announces loudly, having finished the roll call. "I want everybody to find a partner and get into a line beside them! That's it, so we have two rows! Let's go, move it! I heard that, Mason, and next time you so much as think of using that kind of language you can come to my class after school to scrape gum off of tables. After school, I don't care if you have football. Ryan, that doesn't look like a line!"

"I'd almost forgotten why they called her Satan," Hattie mumbles under her breath.

"Did she used to be a lot meaner than she is now?" Sofia asks.

"Not meaner," Zola says. "Still nice. It's just that she's happier now, so she lets people off with more warnings instead of detentions."

"And crap are her detentions tough," Ryan huffs from in front of Zola, once more slowly orbiting out of the line and towards his friends.

"Ryan!" Ms. Robbins warns him.

Ryan obediently moves back into line, even though it's hard to take Ms. Robbins seriously when she's skating alongside everyone in shoes Ellis would probably kill for.

—

If it's a hassle keeping everybody close together on the airport, it's a disaster getting them on the plane.

While all the other passengers have sat down and last minute checks and seat swaps are being made, Ms. Montgomery does a last roll call to make sure nobody's gotten lost.

Then, she and Vice Principal Sloan sit with Ms. Robbins and Mr. Karev, in front of all the SGH-bought seats belonging to students, whereas Ms. Torres and the fetus teachers sit behind the last row of students.

Ms. Montgomery is painfully out of place in economy, and the only people looking more uncomfortable than her are Sam and Vice Principal Sloan, both probably very used to the more luxurious comforts of life.

Having been lucky enough to be at the front of the group, Zola is sat in a row with Sam and Sofia directly across from the teachers, with a perfect view of Ms. Montgomery and Vice Principal Sloan.

"Bags the window seat," Sam announces, unceremoniously flopping down there before Zola can try and hog it.

"I get it on the way back," she warns him.

"Can I have the aisle seat?" Sofia asks, even though that's the only seat left.

"You're so annoying," Zola tells Sam as they all get settled. "You have, like, a pea-size bladder. You're going to be getting up and doing the awkward can I get through thing like ten times during the flight. You better not be buying any soda."

Sam sticks his tongue out petulantly – he's afraid of flying, it brings out the worst in him – and sticks his headphones over his head. Zola turns to Sofia to talk to her instead, only to find that – despite the plane not having even taken off yet – Sofia has wrapped herself in a huge fluffy pink blanket (Lord knows how she fit it inside her carry-on bag), wrapped a donut-themed neck pillow around her neck, and stuck earbuds in; she appears to be asleep.

It's so extra that Zola feels like laughing, but it would only really by funny with Hattie there, and Hattie is on the other side of the aisle (in the window seat, lucky thing) playing travel chess with Tuck, while Ryan sits in the aisle seat already tucking into a huge pack of Doritos.

Instead, Zola sighs and hunkers down with some Spanish homework…

Only to find herself watching Ms. Montgomery and Vice Principal Sloan, and trying to listen into their conversation.

It's just that they're so cute.

Ms. Montgomery is passing Vice Principal Sloan a pill – maybe for travel sickness, or his throat – and he's saying something which makes her roll her eyes, and then he's chuckling. He's pulling out his laptop, and she's pulling out her phone.

Zola strains her ears, and finally is able to get some sort of conversation.

"-About Henry," Ms. Montgomery finishes, tapping out a message rapidly as she speaks.

"He'll be fine," Vice Principal Sloan assures her. His voice sounds better. Not as hoarse. "You trust Meredith and Derek."

Henry's staying with Zola's family, as though the two of them have just swapped places. Zola reckons Ellis will be keeping him too busy for him to even find the time to miss his mom.

"-Should have called him while we were checking bags in," Ms. Montgomery says. "I'll have to wait till – now."

"He'll probably be sleeping," Vice Principal Sloan says. "Wait until morning. If you're anxious, you'll only pass it on to him."

"-Easy – say. Your kid's accomp- you."

Vice Principal winds an arm around her shoulder, hugging her to his chest – awkwardly, given the laptop.

"Zola?" Sam says urgently. "Zola, can I get past? I really gotta pee."

—

She must drift off at some point, because when she wakes back up, the seatbelt signs are off and a baby is wailing somewhere in the back of the plane.

"Skiing all the time," Ms. Montgomery is telling Vice Principal Sloan. "Daddy – chalet – Italian mountains, so we'd – winter there. Never – Aspen, though. It – good. – Think I – take Henry – only a little younger – when I learned to ski."

Ellis will have a fit if Aunt Addie takes Henry skiing for vacation. Zola's family, consisting of two teachers and three kids, can't really afford vacations – especially vacations abroad. Usually, they stay in the Hamptons – at least for the summer – because Aunt Addie and Zola's dad share a house there, or they all attend one of the big Shepherd family reunions that Aunt Addie still gets invited to.

In fact, Zola doesn't think Henry and Ellis have ever had a vacation apart.

"- parents," Vice Principal Sloan says. -First vacation, Spring Break – really. Don't – remember much, unsurprisingly. Why – always take Sofia – places. In – summer. – mom always chose. Threw – at a map. Mostly USA. – Indiana, California – but – in Thailand, Dubai, France – favourites – pretty expensive – loved Iceland, super cold, no skiing though."

"Sounds-" Ms. Montgomery says really enthusiastically. "Fiji – really loved – tradition. Don't go - too sad without– a few times – Hawaii – 's sister lives – old colleague – Mnemba, touching monkeys."

Vice Principal Sloan laughs. Ms. Montgomery must have said something amusing Zola didn't quite catch.

She glances side to side, hoping maybe Sam or Sofia is awake and she can talk to them. Sofia's snoring; Sam's passed out with his head on the tiny plastic table and is possibly dead.

She should have sat with Hattie. Hattie's always good fun.

For a while, she tries to leave Sloangomery alone and focus on that Spanish. Their voices get quieter, until Zola can't hear them at all.

She thinks it must just be because she's concentrating a lot, but then she looks over again – after she's completed the first two tasks of her homework – and finds that they are asleep; Vice Principal's head on Ms. Montgomery's shoulder, and Ms. Montgomery's head resting against his.

—

Everybody hops off the coach, thanking the driver as they have been taught to do, and joins the pile of students stood by the skiing lodge doors. This time, it's Ms. Torres taking roll call.

The school must really hate the idea of getting lawsuits.

Zola walks in step with Sam, who is bleary-eyed, and Hattie, who is bushy-tailed.

"Do you reckon they already made room assignments?" She asks. "Or maybe everybody gets to choose?"

"Imagine," Hattie says happily, "the teachers' arrangements could be so perfect. Ms. Torres and Ms. Robbins, Ross and Karev, Murphy and Blake, and then – oh coincidence! – Sloan and Montgomery."

"That's doubtful," Tuck says as he walks past them. "There's always a separation of genders on these things – presumably to prevent sex-related issues. The male teachers share a room by the boys' dorms, and the female teachers share a room by the girls' dorms."

Hattie sighs heavily.

"I don't get that," Sam muses. "I mean, if we're so determined to have sex, that would hardly stop us, would it? Besides, separating genders would hardly be the way to stop any sex whatsoever. What if, like, everybody in boys' dorm A decides to just have a huge gay orgy while everybody's sleeping?"

"That's hardly going to happen," Tuck says sensibly.

"You've never been to the Olympics, have you?" Zola says, making Hattie snort.

"Rooms!" Ms. Robbins exclaims. "I'll be sorting out the girls over here; Mr. Karev will be reading out arrangements for boys over there. Mason, Lucas – I see you, stop wandering off!"

"Bye…" Sam sighs mournfully, hiking his bag higher up onto his shoulder, then slouching off towards the rest of the boys.

Tuck nods his own goodbye, following.

"Okay!" Ms. Montgomery announces, taking over from Ms. Robbins. "There are six girls to a dorm, and twenty-six girls on the trip this year! That means six girls to two of the dorms, as usual, and then seven to the other two dorms! Dorm A! Betsy, Sofia, Emily G, Emily K, Emily O, and Ella! Ms. Robbins is going to show you all your room now, please don't wander off."

Hattie and Zola both breathe sympathetic apologies to Sofia, because she is being separated from the clique, then focus back on the list of assigned rooms.

"Mason!" Mr. Karev yells from the other side of the skiing lodge foyer. "Lucas! Tuck! Sam! Ryan!"

The boys probably have better odds of being together, because there's less of them. Tuck and Sam are going to go crazy being stuck in a room with such a boisterous group.

They probably won't spend that much time in their dorms, anyway.

"-beth!" Ms. Montgomery yells. "Harriet! Ella! Jane!" Zola waits with bated breath. "Zola!"

She and Hattie squeal happily, then obediently pick up their bags and follow Ms. Murphy to (girls) Dorm C, which is an average-size wooden room with three sets of bunk beds.

"Dibs top!" Hattie and Zola exclaim, fighting each other as they try and climb the ladder, then exploding into peals of laughter on the floor as they just end up falling on top of each other.

They decide they'll have alternating days on who gets top bunk – starting with Harriet, which is decided after a few intense rounds of rock-paper-scissors – and pile all their bags into a corner, claiming they'll unpack after dinner (they probably won't).

Ms. Murphy leaves them to unpack, however, so they waste the time left until the meal with a game of Uno.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello! Yes, I have been basically dead for like a week now. There was snow and laziness involved. Also, I enjoy procrastinating. But thank you to all you awesome people who read and reviewed, and I hope you like this chapter.**

 **Chapter Twenty-One**

The fire is crackling. The room is all hushed whispers and _Grease_. There's a mug of hot chocolate cradled in Zola's hands, and the weight of Hattie's head in her lap where the other girl has fallen asleep.

About twenty or so students in total are in the common room, watching the movie. The rest have gone upstairs, chaperoned by a few of the teachers.

Ms. Robbins is by the door, whispering about something with Ms. Murphy. Sloan and Montgomery – predictably together, although they surprised all their shippers at lunch by sitting at completely different tables – are sat in the window-seat, which is narrow, so she's _basically_ sitting on his lap.

It was cute watching them for a little while, but only for a little while, and then Zola got bored of that too very quickly.

"I'm hungry," she whispers to Sam, beside her, not really hungry so much as unable to concentrate.

"Me too," he replies, which isn't a surprise.

His face brightens, and he scrambles to his feet. "Hang on! I'll be back in a sec."

"Shhhh!" Somebody at the back of the room hisses. Sam rolls his eye and leaves.

He's back quickly, holding a half-full bin bag of something, looking around covertly like some kind of spy.

"What's that?" She asks, presuming it's food.

Checking once more that no one is looking, Sam opens the bag wide so that Zola can see all the treasures stashed inside.

And boy, is it a stash.

" _Damn_ ," Zola tells Sam. "How did you fit all that in your bag?"

"Well, I figured, we're mostly wearing our skiing stuff, right? So it doesn't matter what clothes I bring, or wear."

"You didn't bring any clothes," Zola guesses, eyebrows raised.

"I did," Sam replies. "Technically. I brought, y'know, underwear and stuff. And two t-shirts under my sweatshirt, on the plane. And I had my pajamas."

Zola mulls over the idea. " _Smort_ ," she decides, finally, and grabs a bag of Cheetos.

—

It's very late and very dark, and as Zola approaches the kitchen for a glass of water she hopes she will not trip over Whatshername from _The Ring_ movies.

The coast is clear when she reaches the kitchen. She sets her torch down on the counter, fills her water bottle from the tap. She picks her torch back up and sets about returning.

Before she can reach the doorway, her torch flickers and then the light fizzles out.

Zola swears – this is just how they get killed in the movies – but finally gives up on shaking her torch, deciding to just hope for the best, and starts feeling her way over to the door.

She makes her way to the hallway, where the the corridor splits off. One set of stairs to the boys' dorms, another for the girls'.

The only reason she doesn't scream when she feels something warm and solid bump into her back is because she's too scared to gather the necessary air.

The something warm and solid releases a very impressive string of curse words and then they're both panicking, and Zola's fumbling for light switch, and there it is! And- oh, that's Ms. Montgomery.

She must have been very frazzled by bumping into Zola, because she looks kind of flushed, and her hair's messy, and isn't- oh. _Oh_. Oh-ho-ho.

"Aunt Addie," Zola says, feeling very smug.

Ms. Montgomery's coming from the _boys_ ' set of stairs.

Wait till Hattie hears about _this_.

"Zola!" Ms. Montgomery says brightly, only a little awkward.

There's a pause, and Zola's looking at Ms. Montgomery, and Ms. Montgomery's looking at Zola, and they're glancing between the sets of stairs.

"I wasn't-" Ms. Montgomery blurts.

"I was just getting-" Zola starts at the same time.

She feels a little like the roles in this situation are reversed.

"Me too," Ms. Montgomery says, stealing Zola's excuse.

"And… you got lost?"

"It… was… is… _very dark_ ," Ms. Montgomery decides.

"Right," Zola says, deciding to take it easy on the adult. "Of course."

"It's past curfew," Ms. Montgomery says hastily, probably sensing Zola's disbelief, "you should be in bed. Come on."

She turns the lights back off and leads Zola upstairs, parting ways with embarrassed goodbyes.

—

"The logistics of that are all wrong," Sam informs them all on the plane very early (too early) the next morning. "There are other teachers in the male teacher's dorm. And all the beds are those really creaky twin beds. And I know you girls and the teachers have those too, because I heard Ms. Torres complaining about them. So in conclusion, people would know so the two of them wouldn't be able to do it."

"They could have met up in the bathroom or something!" Zola insists. "I know what I saw. You don't get to write me off as crazy just because you don't like my story."

"That's disgusting," Sam tells her. "You have _seen_ those bathrooms, right?"

"Can we please not talk about this?" Sofia begs. "For some reason, I really don't like the idea of thinking about my dad doing it with my teacher. Oh ew. It's stuck in my head now. I legit feel _so_ sick. Does anybody have a pill for that?"

Sam hands her a Dramamine pill.

Hattie, who is sat directly across from Sofia in the aisle seat, shrugs. "I dunno. It can't be that bad to think about. They're both pretty hot." She pauses for a second, then grimaces. "Never mind. It's _weird_. They're parents. I once accidentally called her 'mom' in freshman year!"

"That was an easy mistake," Sam comforts her. "They're both redheads with literally no other physical similarities whatsoever."

Zola squeaks, making all eyes turn on her.

"If they didn't do anything – and I'm not saying they did it," Zola says. "Then why does Vice Principal Sloan have that on his neck?"

It's so, so obviously a hickey.

Or a bruise. On his neck.

A very large mosquito bite.

A localised allergic reaction.

Definitely a hickey.


	22. Chapter 22

**Heyyy! New chapter! Thank you for all the lovely, lovely reviews (love you guys!) and thanks to anybody who reads this, too. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, forewarning: I've changed my username! I didn't really like my old one anymore, but I hope it doesn't lead to any confusion.**

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

Shortly after Zola's sixteenth birthday, it's determined that she's finally old enough to stay home alone with her siblings.

While her parents leave for a week of camping and fishing, this means that Zola is left with the task of not only full-time babysitting (supervised by her Aunt Amelia, who checks up on them every evening, with phone calls from her parents after school), but also making sure her siblings get to school alright.

This is fine with Zola's brother Bailey, who is the most low maintenance child in existence. She sees him once in the morning when he fixes his PB&J sandwiches and slouches off to middle school, and once in the evening when he makes himself grilled cheese and lopes off to his room.

However, dealing with Ellis is a whole other story.

In the end, Zola and Sam walk to school together, Ellis skipping ahead as far as the leash (Doc's old leash) clipped onto the waistband of her dungarees will allow.

It's the fourth morning of their walks to Mercy West Elementary School, and Sam and Zola are discussing the season finale of their favourite tv show (Webber's Anatomy), when Ellis lets loose an almighty shriek of, "Henry!" and springs forward so quickly that the leash tears away the belt loop it was attached to.

Henry's dressed in his usual odd assortment of clothes – baseball cap, Superman cape, boots, khakis, and a glow-in-the-dark Scooby Doo t-shirt – and falls backwards when Ellis pounces on him, luckily cushioning his fall with his Spider-Man backpack.

"Hi Henry!" Ellis exclaims, words pouring out of her mouth a mile a minute. "I like your shirt, even though it's got Velma's face all wrong. I like Velma, she's smart _and_ she's really pretty _and_ I like her sweater. My mom got me some Scooby Doo cereal once and it was _dee_ -licious. We used to have Scooby Doo band aids, but we don't anymore. I scraped my knee yesterday, and I got a huge bruise and there was blood and everything – see! Look, look! Are you jealous? You're not looking! – and then I got a band aid, but it was a Cinderella band aid and I don't like Cinderella, so Zola says we can get some Cars band aids after school today!"

She doesn't even pause to catch her breath, which is the most impressive part of it all. There are times when Zola thinks her sister could easily single-handedly power the city's energy, like one of those hamsters which run round and round inside those little plastic balls.

Henry sticks his thumb in his mouth, which really he's a bit old for at seven but it's better than Bailey at that age (seven year old Bailey didn't do much but pick his nose and stick his hands down his pants, if Zola remembers correctly).

Then, he says in a quiet snuffly tone which is precisely Henry and always reminds Zola a little of somebody speaking over the phone, "Thwanks. I like Fwed. He's cool."

"Fred makes such great traps!" Ellis contributes enthusiastically. She always contributes, even if she doesn't know what anybody is talking about. Aunt Kathy thinks it's because Ellis is the baby and they spoilt her, so she feels a need to be the centre of attention. "Booby traps!" She sniggers, presumably at the term 'booby'. "I tried to make a trap once, to catch the ghost in the basement, but it went all wrong and I made a hole in the wall and broke Dad's collarbone. I wasn't trying to make a trap like Fred though, I was trying to make a trap like Kevin. From Home Alone. I liked the second one better than the first one. Once, I tried to sled down the stairs like Kevin does – Kevin, in home alone – but that went wrong too, and I got my head stuck in the bannisters. Aren't I funny, Henry?"

Henry nods solemnly. Ellis beams and grabs his hand, beginning to drag him towards the school doors. "What did you have for breakfast today?" Zola hears her demand. "I had pizza, coz we had loads left over from last night when I accidentally ordered some – I was pretending to order some, but then I accidentally did it for reals – and Zola didn't want to make me anything, but it was cold pizza. I actually like cold pizza. I have some for my lunch! Do you want some?"

The young Montgomery replies something, then jumps as though he's forgotten something and turns around to wave frantically.

Zola and Sam raise their hands to wave back, confused.

"Byeth!" Henry calls happily. "Thwank you, Uncleth Maffk!"

He turns back to Ellis, who has dropped his hand so she can gesture wildly about something.

"Bye Henry!" A wonderfully familiar voice calls back, and Sam and Zola whirl around just in time to see Vice Principal Sloan's Porsche driving away.


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter Twenty-Three**

A spit ball ricochets off the wall. An offensive caricature of Mr. O'Malley floats around the class. Somewhere in a nearby room, a student screams.

The joys of public school.

"—Context of The Great Gatsby," Vice Principal Sloan says from where he is stood by the interactive board. "Yes, Lucas?"

Lucas swings back on his chair and runs a hand through his thick, blond hair. " _Sir_ ," he says, drawing out the word in a practiced manner suited to asking teachers annoying questions. "When's Ms. Montgomery coming back?"

Vice Principal Sloan sighs deeply.

Sam sympathises with him strongly. Vice Principal Sloan has been asked that question incessantly over the past three days, which isn't even fair considering he's at the very least a decent teacher – better than a supply teacher would be, at any rate (he's even specialised in English, which is very lucky indeed!)

He explains, once more, that Ms. Montgomery is away on sick leave – Zola, who is also off sick (but, in contradiction to their teacher, fake-sick), told Sam that Ellis gave Henry chicken pox, and Henry passed it on to his mother.

"And Lucas," Vice Principal Sloan finishes. "Stop swinging on your chair."

"I can swing on just one leg, Sir!" Lucas says. "Watch!"

"Lucas," Vice Principal says firmly, evidently regretting his decision not to teach at a private school, like Mt. Sinai. "If your chair isn't standing on all four legs by the time I count to five, you're going to be standing for the rest of the lesson. One."

Lucas lets his chair thump back down into place, a sulky expression on his face.

"When I was beginning my second year of teaching," Vice Principal Sloan says, making groans echo throughout the class in anticipation of his impending speech. "There was a girl who always swung on her chair. Nobody ever saw much danger in it. Then, one day, she swung too far; lost her balance; hit her head; bit straight through her tongue – she suffered a serious impact to the head, and they had to stitch her tongue back on. Next time you're swinging, think of that."

Every teacher seems to have experienced something similar. It's a pretty strange coincidence.

"Will do, Sir," Lucas says, rolling his eyes.

"Good. Now, the 1920's were a period of- Lucas, stand up."

Lucas throws his arms up in outrage. "What!"

"You were swinging on your chair. I wasn't kidding when I gave you that warning," Vice Principal Sloan says. "You can spend the rest of the lesson standing up."

"You're joking!"

"If you continue to talk back to me, I'm going to have to add a detention to that."

Lucas swears under his breath and then shuts his mouth, like anybody with half a brain cell would in the same situation.

"Alright!" Vice Principal Sloan calls them to attention. "Now, in your books – yes, Annabeth, in full sentences, which you should automatically know by now – you're going to answer this question."

He flicks over to the next page of the PowerPoint, which reads: HOW DID CONTEXT IMPACT F. SCOTT FITZGERALD'S WRITING IN 'THE GREAT GATSBY'?

More unhappy moaning drifts through the class as everybody picks up their pens and tries to think of an answer.

They all set to writing (Lucas seems, to say the least, uncomfortable) and Vice Principal Sloan wanders throughout the class, making students sweat as he reads their work over their shoulders, occasionally helping somebody who's really stuck.

It all lasts approximately ten minutes before Vice Principal Sloan sits back down at Ms. Montgomery's desk, where he is very invested in writing something Sam doesn't have the time to read.

Not long after Vice Principal Sloan has sat back down, the drawing of Mr. O'Malley starts circling again, slowly drawing giggles and whispers from students, steadily rising in volume.

Vice Principal Sloan clears his throat.

The chatter dies down for all of five minutes before rising again. Vice Principal stands up to recapture their attention, but then a head of curly, blonde hair pops around the door.

"Hi, Vice Principal Sloan!" Georgia/Caroline/Rachel King-Freedman chirps, smiling angelically.

If she's skipping class, it's probably Caroline. She's the troublemaker.

"Caroline," Vice Principal Sloan says evenly, confirming this. "Why are you out of class?"

Caroline shrugs. "Felt like it. When's Ms. Montgomery coming back?"

"Soon," Vice Principal Sloan says. "Caroline, please return to class."

Sensing an opportunity, the class begin to chatter again, sharing answers but mostly just messing around.

"Nah, Sir," Caroline says. "How do you know Ms. Montgomery's coming back soon? Did you ask her? 'Cause you like, like her."

Vice Principal Sloan exhales loudly.

"Caroline, you have a detention."

"You haven't read me my Miranda Rights."

"I don't need to read you your Miranda Rights." He walks over and writes out Caroline a detention slip. "Friday. Ms. Torres' room."

"I already have a detention for Friday. After school. With Mr. Shepherd."

"This detention will be Friday lunch."

"Is this because I'm a girl, Sir?"

"No, it's because you're out of class."

"I'm not taking this abuse! Ms. Montgomery wouldn't treat me this way!" Caroline struts away angrily, blonde hair flouncing.

Vice Principal Sloan follows her, and the second he steps out of the classroom everybody descends into chaos.

Sam stops writing to think over his next sentence, and that's when the computer catches his eye.

The window of Sloan's email, open right there in front of him.

He crossed the line into invasive a long time ago. Of course he reads it.

It's directed to Mr. Shepherd. Sam can't make out all th details, but it sounds like it's to do with Valentine's Day, which is lame.

Vice Principal Sloan strides back into the classroom, and to the front. "Quiet!" He demands, but pretty much everybody ignores him. "Qui-et!"

Everybody continues talking, if anything becoming louder rather than any closer to being quiet.

"Alright," Vice Principal Sloan says, throwing his arms up into the air and leaning back against the desk. "I'll wait!"

As it turns out, he doesn't have to. The fire alarm goes off with a loud ringing, immediately soaking everyone with water.

"Single file! Everybody in an orderly line, leaving the room through the exit straight ahead!" Vice Principal Sloan calls, actually achieving in making everybody – not just the class, but all the other classes in the general vicinity – listen this time.

"Do you think it's a drill?" Tuck whispers to Sam.

"Nah," Sam says. "Bet you it was just someone smoking in the bathrooms again."

"Bet you they were smoking pot."

"Bet you it was Caroline."

"Bet you she wasn't smoking, she just pulled it on purpose."


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry for the long wait! It's a pretty big change from the daily updates I used to do, I know. Thanks for all your reviews and support! I'm determined not to abandon this fic.**

 **Also, sorry about the chicken pox confusion last chapter! As I mentioned in chapter one, there was some British/American confusion. I didn't realise people got vaccinated; in the UK, that only really happens in special cases. Because I don't want to rewrite a whole chapter, let's say that Addison and Henry are allergic to neomycin.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter Twenty Four**

The fire alarm's keening wail finally fades into silence as Meredith joins her husband in the school yard, where every class is lined up together separated by year group and homeroom class.

"That wasn't a drill, was it?" Derek murmurs. "I swear I didn't get a memo."

"Not a drill," Meredith sighs. "But not an actual fire, thank God. Somebody must have set it off on purpose."

Derek shakes his head. "Unbelievable. We must have gone over this with them at least a few hundred times by now. They know why they shouldn't do this."

"Erica Hahn from Seattle Pres. is getting smug," Meredith shares. "We were talking about it at that teacher conference during that week away – you know, the last one, when we went fishing – and she was all, _Yes your School may have have the best results of a public school in Seattle, but hasn't your fire alarm been set off by students over ten times this semester?_ This is a _great_ school. I'm a _great_ principal."

"You're the sun," Derek assures her. "Dink, get back in line!"

He slides his phone out of his pocket, checking the notifications. "Zola says she's good," he tells Meredith. "Amy's keeping Ellis entertained, and she made them all lunch."

"That's good," Meredith says. "Tell your sister thank you. We really can't afford to take any more time off work. Although I bet Hahn would love that."

Derek continues swiping. "There's a new arrival on Netflix," he adds. "And Addison says she should be fine coming back to work tomorrow."

"Henry must be better, then. He got over it quickly. Quicker than Ellis, anyway. It's a good thing we immunised Zola and Bailey, or I can't imagine what we'd be dealing with now otherwise."

"Ellis is milking this chicken pox thing," Derek tells his wife. "She could have easily gone back to school today."

Meredith frowns. "So why didn't you send her?"

Derek runs a hand through his hair. "I reckoned it wouldn't hurt to give her a break. She might still need some recovery time. And if she doesn't want to go to school there must be something wrong, right?"

There's definitely some truth to it.

Finally, the last of the teachers finishes taking roll call and Meredith steps forward to address the student body.

"Students," She says. "I would like to inform you all that this fire alarm was not a drill. However, there is no reason to panic; there was no fire. Somebody pulled the alarm on purpose. I'm asking for that person to step forward now and take responsibility for their actions. If they don't, we'll review security footage and find out who it was anyway. The penalty will be worse if nobody steps forward. For anybody who wants to report someone privately, please tell either your teacher or me and we'll keep you anonymous."

She looks around the yard. People are yawning. Stepping from foot to foot impatiently. Muttering things among themselves. Nobody steps forward.

"Last chance," Meredith states. "For the perpetrator to come forward now before we hunt them down."

Still, nobody.

Meredith sighs. "Alright, single file, no talking (Rachel), everybody get ready to come back to class. Seniors leave the yard first."

"So much for that," Derek mutters.

She sighs, for a second allowing herself to relax, let her body lean against his. "So much for that."

Then Caroline Freedman falls into hysterics and the moment is over, Derek is gone to comfort the girl from his homeroom class. _Everybody's accusing me,_ Caroline wails, _I'm not dumb enough to set off an alarm, I was disrupting Mr. Sloan's lesson when it happened, it couldn't be me!_

Meredith leaves. There's a lot of camera footage to cover.

oOo

Hattie shifts from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"Are you okay?" Sam whispers, glancing at Ms. Robbins, who is walking past shushing people.

"Cold," Hattie tells him, hugging her arms to her chest. "And in need of a pee."

Without a word, he shrugs off his jacket and passes it to her. He's always been good at bearing the weather, anyway.

" _Thank you,_ " Hattie gushes eagerly, pulling the jacket on. "You're the best!"

"No problem," Sam tells her.

She smiles, before once more becoming distracted by doing her awkward, little jig.

"Distract me," she tells him desperately.

"You know," Sam says thoughtfully. "Thinking of sex is supposed to make you wanna pee less."

"Great," Hattie says. "Distract me with something else."

"Um," Sam says, his mind suddenly devoid of any and all discussion topics.

He's about to turn to the weather when Hattie blurts out joyfully, "I forgot to tell you! I have a Sloangomery conspiracy theory!"

He shoves his hands in his pockets, intrigued. "Go on."

"So… Miss Montgomery supposedly has chicken pox, right?"

"Right."

"Except who even gets chicken pox these days? Everybody's, like, vaccinated. So…."

"So…."

"Maybe she doesn't have chicken pox."

Sam looks at Hattie cryptically. "You think Miss Montgomery's pregnant."

"Well, duh!"

"She's been with Sloan for like, three months. They only just started holding hands, and now you have them pregnant! You're moving a bit fast, don't you think?"

"It only takes once," Hattie declares wisely. "Oh god, when can we go inside? Sir, I need to use the bathroom!"

"And I guess it's unlikely she genuinely has chicken pox, even though both Henry and Ellis have it, which we know for sure?"

"Okay," Hattie plays along. "Why doesn't Ellis have her vaccination?"

"She missed it the first time 'Cause she was sick, I think. Remember, she had all those surgeries and they had her in a – whaddya call it? In…"

"Incubator?"

"Yeah! They had her in an _incubator_ , and she missed all her vaccinations and stuff 'cause she was too sick. Then by the time somebody thought hey, we should vaccinate her, she was aware of everything that was going on around her? She made it through a few vaccinations, the big ones, with only some minor fainting and biting of doctors, but by the time it got to chicken pox they decided it wasn't worth it."

"I didn't know Ellis was afraid of needles!"

"Oh, yeah," Sam says, "even the fake ones," having learnt this the hard way.

"But what are the odds that Ellis and Henry and Miss Montgomery are all afraid of needles?"

"I don't think they are."

"They don't have their vaccinations."

"They probably have other reasons."

" _Sure_ they do…" Hattie smirks. "Sir, please can I leave!"

"I don't know, can you?" One of the teachers reports, and Sam nearly has to restrain Hattie.

The other junior classes start filing out of the yard, splitting off from their classes into cliques quickly despite teachers' reprimands.

" _Finally_!" Hattie sighs, before turning to one of the girls nearby. "Liv, tell Ms. Robbins I went to the bathroom if she notices I'm not back in class!"

She jogs towards the school ahead of everybody else, and Sam searches out Tuck for somebody to talk to.

oOo

"Can I scratch now?" Henry asks his mother while scratching one of the fading chicken pox marks on his arm.

"No, honey," his mom tells him, gently pulling his hand away. "Not yet. You'll scar."

"I don't mind scarring," Henry persists. "It's cool."

He doesn't necessarily think so – although Ellis definitely does, only because she has so many scars – but he knows his mother can't argue otherwise, because that would be saying people with scars _aren't_ cool, and she's taught him that's discrimination.

"Well, yes," his mom says. "Scars _can_ be cool, but sometimes it's not a great idea to get them on purpose, because you might regret it later on in life."

"You've got a scar," Henry says.

"Yeah," his mom says, scribbling something down in red pen on one of the essays she's always marking, with a frown that makes Henry think whatever she's writing isn't good.

"From lacrosste."

"Mm-hm."

"'Cause a girl, um, bit you."

His mother moves on to the next essay, some of the light in her eyes dimming as she skims over the first paragraph. "Yes, Henry. But you shouldn't bite people, remember that."

"I only did that once. Ellis bit Harper Connelly today. Are you allowed to bite people in lacrosse? I think I'd like that."

"No, you aren't allowed to bite people in lacrosse. It's like how you get a foul in football by doing things you aren't supposed to. Is Harper Connelly the Harper with the long hair?"

"No, that's Harper Adamson. Ellis bit the _other_ Harper."

"Right…" his mom says, in a tone suggesting the opposite. "Tall Harper."

"No," Henry repeats impatiently. "Tall Harper isn't one of my friends. Harper Connelly is the Harper who had a donut birthday party and everybody threw up afterwards."

"Why aren't you friends with Tall Harper?" his mom asks, concerned, as she sets the pen down for a minute. "I hope neither of you are being mean."

"Can I have a donut?" Henry asks.

"Not today, sweetie. How about some apple slices instead?"

"Can I have apple slices and a donut? Uncle Mark can stop by Dunkin' Donuts on his way home."

"You can have a donut tomorrow after school if you clean your room and eat your dinner today," his mom bargains.

"Deal," Henry says, shaking her hand vigorously. "But I get a milkshake with my donut."

"But the milkshake is homemade, not from Dunkin' Donuts."

He thinks it over, then finally decides, "Ok."

His mom picks her pen back up.

"Can we play Scrabble?" Henry asks.

His mom hesitates. Scrabble is her and Henry's favourite game. Uncle Mark likes it too, but he's a better Monopoly player; Henry and his mom always win Scrabble.

She pushes her papers away and slides onto the floor beside Henry, making him beam. "Alright then, bud," his mom says. "Best of three. Only English words, no proper nouns."

"Yeah!" Henry roars, jumping to his feet. "Mom, I'll get the game, you get the apple slices."

He thunders up the stairs, searching through the baseballs and mismatched socks under his bed for the familiar game. Somewhere downstairs, the front door slams. "Honey, I'm home!" Uncle Mark shouts jokingly, as he does sometimes.

Finally grabbing the game, Henry races back downstairs. "Hi, Uncle Mark!" He exclaims, and then his face brightens as he sees the girl stood behind Uncle Mark.

Henry loves Sofia. She has nice, long hair and is good at climbing trees.

"Sofia!" He shouts joyfully, rushing past Uncle Mark and his mom to grab Sofia's hand with his spare one. "Come play! Me and Mom and Uncle Mark are playing scrabble!"

"I have a whole new respect for your job," Uncle Mark murmurs to Henry's mom as they all enter the living room. "I've never worked at a public school before this, and working with an actual class…"


End file.
